Kiba: Spirit Eater
by Invision
Summary: Two years have passed since Tusker's rebirth, but the world of Templar is not yet done with Zed. He is summoned, once again, to fight the enigmatic Spirit Eaters.
1. Of Times Past

**Kiba: Spirit Eater**

_Chapter 1 - Of Times Past_

* * *

**Calm**

_Two years have passed since Tusker's rebirth. Two years since the fighting…_

Zed laid back, his bright sapphire eyes piercing the gloom of the cloudy day. The wind rustled at his coat, and the crimson cloth flapped gently in the breeze. He closed his eyes and sighed. _But I can't forget, even if I want to._

The wind strengthened, swirling around him and caressing his face, dancing as it went. Zed's eyes opened in anemic bewilderment. _This wind…the wind of summoning…_

He remembered the first time he had found himself in Templar, of how the whirling zephyrs had led him to the portal which transferred him into that world. _And this…this feels the same._

He looked up into the gray, dismal sky in wild exasperation. _Why now? What am I needed for now?_

**Templar**

Roia wiped a sleeve across her brow. It had been a hard day at Miki's bakery, and she had been laboring at the oven for the last few hours, despite her day off from the infirmary. "Geez," she groaned, "That Miki really is a slave driver."

Then her eyes softened as she remembered Zed, and how he would complain the same way. "Zed," she murmured, "I wonder where you are now?"


	2. A Coming Of Darkness

_Chapter 2 – A Coming of Darkness_

* * *

**Tusk**

"Have you found it?"

One red, gleaming eye pierced the gloomy depths of the tunnel. A sliver of light from a dying torch illuminated a crimson, brooding mask, then the elaborate but damaged armor requisite of Jimoto's head generals.

The soldier swallowed nervously as the man approached. "We've reached the stone gates, sir, but they cannot be opened, despite our efforts."

"Oh?"

The blade of a sword flashed out and shoved itself into the soldier's throat. He gasped, and then choked as blood welled up into his prone mouth. "I do not accept failures, you ignorant cur."

Sheathing the sword, the masked man walked onward until he reached an enormous cavern, recently unearthed by the excavation team and mutedly lighted by smoldering lanterns. "Where is it?"

"J-Jimu! What a surprise, sir!" A figure, donning a gas mask and a beige jumpsuit caked with dirt, moved toward him.

Again the sword flashed, and its wicked tip was directed at the excavator's throat. "Where is it?" he asked again, each word harboring little patience.

"The…the gates, sir, are right in front of you," the excavator said anxiously, gesturing at the gargantuan stone doors that loomed before them, engraved with the swirling runes of ages past, and fastened stolidly against the ravages of time and earth.

Jimu nodded in the barest form of appreciation. "Ah, good. And what is the problem?"

"They simply can't be opened. We've tried bashing them, even small explosives—nothing seems to work, and anything larger might make the cavern cave in."

Beneath the mask, the Jimu's eyes narrowed. "So be it. Leave."

"But, sir—…"

The sword slashed down and the unfortunate speaker knew no more. Horrified at their companion's death, the other men in the cavern fled for their lives, howling as they rushed up the tunnel to the waning sunlight of Tusk. Smirking, Jimu once again turned to the sealed gates.

"Sachira!"

A dark circle unfurled itself above the man's head, revealing a lithe figure of solid black. "Destroy the gates."

Two yellow, glowing circles appeared at the spirit's shoulders and scythed down, slamming into the impervious doors, and deflected off. The man gritted his teeth. "Again!" he snarled, and the spirit heeded his command, arms hacking at the stone and bursts of energy incinerating the earth around them. At last, the gates yielded under Sachira's brutal assault, crashing open with a loud _bang_.

A spirit shard floated up to his face, its dark, eldritch glow casting deepening shadows over him. Deep black and streaked with the red of blood, it seethed with power; tantalizing power that he could not ever resist.

"Finally…_finally_…it is mine!"

He reached for it, and the shard came to him, strands of shadowy light dancing from it as it went. The man laughed with glee.

"At last, the power to destroy Amil Gaoul…the power of the seventh key spirit…"

He laughed again, and this time could not stop laughing.


	3. Winds Of Fate

_Chapter 3 – Winds Of Fate_

* * *

**Templar**

"Good morning, Roia!" Miki called out cheerfully as his friend came into view, with Noa in tow. "Oh, and hello, Noa!"

Roia smiled. "Hey, Miki! How's the bakery doing?"

"Eh, well, we're nearly sold out again," he answered, smiling ruefully. Then he peeked behind her and saw that Noa was standing. "Noa! Wow, you're out of that wheelchair? I didn't notice! Hey, you should help me out some time!" But even before the words were out of his mouth, Noa was shaking his head and smiling forlornly. "I hate to disappoint, but it's only been a few days since I've started walking again, and even now I'm still sick. I don't really think I can do much," he explained.

Miki scratched his head meekly. "Well, I guess if you feel that way. But you need to come visit more often!"

At this, Noa's smile was genuine as he said, "Sure."

Sighing, Miki gazed at the vivid blue sky above them. "Gosh, it's a beautiful day! Just the sort of day when Zed—…" Suddenly he paused, awkwardly, looking at Roia.

"It's alright," she murmured, eyes downcast. An uncomfortably long stretch of silence passed between them, interrupted by Noa. "You can go, Roia. I'll be fine here."

She started, looking up at him in surprise. "But—…"

Noa smiled again. "Don't worry about it." Roia sighed, giving in. "If you think it's okay," she said, and left, just as a man clad in white, elegant clothes and a short scarlet cape strutted toward them. "Robes!" Miki said in surprise. "Ah, Miki, is it?" Robes replied. Then he noticed Roia as she walked away dismally.

"She's always been like that ever since Zed left," Miki said unhappily. "How unfortunate to see a beauty like that pine away," Robes agreed. "Well then! I'll try to cheer the lady up."

"Hey—…" Miki interjected, then sighed in exasperation as Robes walked after Roia. "Geez…who knows what he'll do to her…" he muttered.

**Calm**

_Someone was running through the forest. Someone who was being pursued by something sinful and dark. His desperate, gasping breaths were evidence of his exhaustion, but he could not rest; not ever, not now. He could run. But he could never hide._

_And then he fell, tripped by one stray branch._

_The thing came closer with malicious intent._

"_No!" The cry was torn from his lips as he crawled backward, fingers fumbling over the cold, hard dirt, trying to do something, anything, to stop that _thing_._

"_Your spirit…" A voice rasped._

_He stood and futilely tried to limp away._

_"It is _mine_!"_

"_No-o-o-o-o-o-o!" Then there was a choking, strangling noise, and all was silent._

_A waning sliver of moonlight illumined one crimson, brooding mask. "I am coming for _you_…"_

Zed awoke with a violent start. _That dream, again. _He shook his head angrily, as if to dispel the vision. _I thought it was gone._

Sighing, knowing now that sleep was impossible, he stood up, gazing over the lighted skyscrapers under the dark night sky of Calm. _What could it mean?_

Unconsciously, his feet led him to the same spot where that portal had opened once before; enticing him into its shimmering, golden depths, revealing a destiny greater than the one he was condemned to in Calm.

Then Zed was wrenched back into reality, and he realized that the wind was blowing again, blowing with purpose.

Zed's eyes narrowed. _This…_


	4. Return To Templar

_Chapter 4 – Return To Templar_

_

* * *

_

**Templar**

Roia walked slowly through the forest path, not noticing Robes until he was almost beside her. "Good morning, Roia!" he said jovially.

"R-Robes! What a surprise!"

"Ah, indeed." He offered her his arm. "Since no one in the infirmary seems to be injured yet, why don't we take a little walk?"

Roia accepted the gentlemanlike offer, and together they paced along the unpaved road.

Then Roia pulled her arm away when she saw where Robes was leading her.

"No," she whispered.

Robes stopped but did not turn to face her as he stood on the hilltop, looking over the rooftops of Templar. The same hilltop that Zed always visited whenever he wanted to see the city in a different view. "When will you stop waiting for Zed?"

Roia started, taken aback by his blunt question. "I'm not waiting for him!" she retorted angrily.

"Oh?"

"I'm not waiting for him…because…because I know he won't come back," she muttered, holding back tears.

"Roia…do you love Zed?" Robes asked innocently, but by then she was running, away from him and away from the memories.

**Seekers' Ship**

Sagiri tiptoed along the halls of the Seeker ship, clutching several shifting shards firmly in her hand. "Sagiri!" A woman's beckoning call came to her. "Coming!" she lied back, trying to buy time.

Then she ran along the decks of the ship, dashing through countless bulkheads, until at last she was in the central dais.

Her resolve wavered, and she stepped back, uncertain. Then she thought of Noa and clenched her fist.

_Noa…I'm coming for you!_

A cyanotic glow illuminated the walls of the room, then disappeared, compressed into a small, radiant orb that ascended into nothingness.

**Calm**

Zed watched as the swirling gusts converged, melding together and fabricating the resplendent circle that he knew so ominously well.

_There's no point in turning back now._

He stepped into the shimmering portal.

**Templar**

"Hey, Miki?" Noa asked.

"Yeah?"

Noa paused, pondering. "Do you think Roia will be alright?" he said at last. Miki heaved a sigh. "I'm not sure, actually. She's strong, but…" His reply trailed off into silence. "She really misses him."

A portly man, clad in dark blue robes and hands clasped behind his back, entered the bakery. "Sebastian!" Noa exclaimed.

"Noa! It is good to see you out of that wheelchair," Sebastian answered warmly.

Noa nodded, smiling. "Definitely."

Their greetings were cut short by a cyanotic glow. "Shifting?" Sebastian muttered incredulously. "Here?"

A young girl appeared in the center of the shifting circle. Noa started in surprise.

"Sagiri?"

* * *

Roia sat on the grass, hugging her knees as she sobbed quietly. "Zed…"

She buried her face into her hands. "I couldn't tell him not to go…I couldn't tell him not to leave me…I couldn't do _anything_…"

"Zed…" she murmured again. "You said you'd come back…"

An iridescent circle unfurled before her, and a familiar figure stepped out. A figure in a crimson jacket, dark jeans and vest, and a pale yellow shirt; a figure whose eyes, once piercingly amber, were now a soft blue. The battered ruins of a medallion swung gently from his belt as the wind tousled his white hair.

Roia's eyes widened. "Zed…"


	5. Reunion

_Chapter 5 – Reunion_

* * *

**Templar**

Zed stepped down on to the lush, green grass, his eyes wandering over the scenery before him. _I'm really here again?_

Then he stumbled and nearly fell as someone tackled him. Groping about for his sword, he stopped and started in surprise. "R-Roia?!"

"Zed!" Roia gasped as tears soaked his jacket, holding him tightly. "You're really back…I…I missed you…"

Zed's eyes softened and he awkwardly returned her embrace. "Yeah."

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Noa asked, surprised. Sagiri bit her lip. "I came to see you," she answered, and looked down at her feet guiltily. Noa stared at her for a moment, then smiled. "Oh, of course! I don't see anything wrong with that." Sagiri shifted from foot to foot. "There's something else, Noa…"

"What?"

"I…I don't really know," Sagiri admitted. "But I've had dreams, bad dreams, of something terrible that's going to happen…"

* * *

"Why are you back?" Roia asked quietly, sitting down on the grass. "I thought you missed me," Zed answered, smirking, with a gleam of mischief in his eyes. "I do!" Roia retorted, flushing. "Just…I know you wouldn't have returned without a reason."

Zed remained silent for a while, then grimaced. "I can't say," he said at last. "But I'm…needed again."

"For what?"

"Who knows? Saving this world a second time, I guess."

**Tusk**

"J-Jimu, sir!" A messenger stepped nervously toward the masked man.

"What is it?"

"There have been reports, sir, that Templar's savior has returned. Someone by the name of Zed."

"Zed, huh?" Jimu's eyes narrowed, and his sword flashed out.

"W-What are you doing?!"

"You aren't needed anymore." Then the blade sliced down and the unfortunate man collapsed, choking on his own blood and reaching futilely toward his attacker, only to have his hand raucously kicked away.

"Finally…I can have my revenge!"

Maniacal laughter rang out in harsh bursts within the gloomy confines of the tunnel and never seemed to stop.


	6. Rumors Of Doom

_Chapter 6 – Rumors Of Doom_

**Tusk**

The guards started in surprised, then quickly recovered and saluted the approaching man.

"J-Jimu, sir! Are you going to shift somewhere?"

Jimu's one exposed eye gleamed. "Oh, indeed." One of the guards cleared his throat uncertainly. "If…if I may ask, sir, where will you go?"

"Hmm…I suppose Templar would be a nice place."

**Templar**

"Why have you summoned me?" Zed asked suspiciously.

The committee members looked at one another uncertainly, the wane, turquoise light illuminating their tentative expressions. "We would have rather preferred this to be a warm welcome," Sebastian at last admitted, "but there is grave news to be said."

"I expected that."

Shifting on his seat uncomfortably, Sebastian continued, "There have been rumors of dark forces at work, those who call themselves the 'Spirit Eaters'."

Zed blinked. "Spirit Eaters?"

"Their methods are unknown," another committee member replied. "However, it seems that they are able to consume spirits…"

"That is true," Sebastian interjected. "Something else that may be related to this strange cult is a number of kidnappings from local hospitals and infirmaries."

"Oh?"

"Indeed…all of the missing was those who are gravely injured or ill and not expected to live out the year, or else crippled for the rest of their lives."

Zed's eyes narrowed. _Noa…_

"What could they be after?" one man mused.

"It must be something that is truly powerful. But as to what it is, we can only guess at," Sebastian said, his face somber.

"Sebastian, sir!" An officer ran into the committee chamber.

"What? What is it?" Sebastian demanded, irked by the intrusion.

"An unknown shifting circle was detected, and with it a powerful shard caster energy—…"

"What! Where is it from?"

"Tusk!"

* * *

"It's a beautiful day, isn't it, Sagiri?" Noa asked, smiling. "Yeah," Sagiri muttered, downcast. Noa glanced down at her. "Sagiri, what's wrong?"

Before she could elaborate, a small troop of soldiers marched past. "An attack?" Noa murmured incredulously.


	7. Confrontation

_Chapter 7 – Confrontation_

* * *

**Templar**

Zed raced out of the committee chamber, sprinting toward the infirmary. "Almost there," he breathed, when a voice brought him to a halt. "Going somewhere, kid?" Zed whirled around, his eyes fixing on the speaker's crimson mask. _I've seen that somewhere…_

"I don't have time for you or anyone else," Zed answered. "I need to see my friend." The man chuckled quietly, then pulled out his sword with a flourish. "Oh, but I disagree…"

* * *

Noa anxiously watched Zed from afar, leaning heavily on a nearby tree trunk. Sagiri stirred beside him uncertainly. "What's wrong?"

"That man," she whispered worriedly. "He's a bad, bad man…"

* * *

Zed crossed swords with the masked man. "Who the hell are you?!" he snarled. His opponent merely laughed and answered, "Call me…Jimu." Zed's eyes narrowed. "Jimu, huh? Last I saw he was incinerated by Pumamis."

"Oh? Is that so? How _unfortunate_."

Zed parried the stab and slashed just as his adversary brought his own blade up and blocked the blow. The two swords crashed together with a piercing _clang_. "Just who the hell are you?!" Zed snapped.

Jimu's one revealed eye narrowed in cruel amusement. "Jimu is the name you only need to know," he answered, chuckling.

"Then you survived?" Zed said, his sword slicing down. Jimu evaded the move easily. "It would seem like it."

"Huh. That's something I'll have to fix, then!"

"Don't get so cocky about it, kid!"

Zed parried and feinted to the right, then lashed out with his fist, catching Jimu on the jaw. He charged, only to get shoved back by a flash of lightning, as the yellow shards detonated vigorously. Jimu coughed, then spat blood on to the grass.

"This is pointless," he snarled. "But then…"

He laughed, maniacally, and then slashed at Zed with wild abandon.

"What's so damn funny?" Zed retorted, then ducked as the blade whistled in the air where his head had been a second before. Summoning a fire shard to his hand, he slammed it into Jimu's chest, and watched in grim satisfaction as it ignited and rammed him away with a burst of flame.

Jimu simply stood and laughed. "What's so funny? You, kid, and your death!" He summoned a spirit shard to his hand; a dark spirit shard, streaked with the red of blood.

Zed's eyes widened. "That's…"

Jimu laughed again. "Come forth…Thanatos!"

The shard shot up into the sky, then expanded into a wide summoning circle. A monstrous figure stepped out.

Jimu pointed at Zed. "Kill him," he said gleefully.

Zed swore as a slicing arm slammed into the ground, barely able to evade death. _No…not an arm…a scythe!_

He stared at spirit in escalading horror. Thanatos peered back at him with a merciless eye, an eye with just a hint of true sentience. _This spirit…it thinks?_

Raven black and enormous, Thanatos loomed before him in all its unholy majesty. Hoisting a double-bladed scythe before it, its crimson eyes, embedded in a hooded, pale skull, gleamed with wrathful vengeance. A cloak shrouded its body, but where there should have been feet, there was, in its stead, a crude and spiny stump entwined with sallow, spindly tapers.

_This…this is a spirit?!_

Gritting his teeth, Zed yelled, "Let's go, Amil Gaoul!"

White, shimmering wings erupted from his back, and he charged at Thanatos, brandishing his sword.

Jimu laughed. "Divide them, Thanatos!"

The spirit's eyes flared, and dark flames licked at the tapers and seared up to its skull, until it was ablaze with black fire. Thanatos slashed, and this time, its aim was true.

Zed felt a torturous, scorching pain, and he writhed as a paroxysm of agony washed over him. He could not fight unconsciousness; he could not fight the anguish…

Then he was blinded by white. _Am I…dead?_

He saw Amil Gaoul, flying away. "What?! No! Amil Gaoul! Don't leave me!"

Zed reached out, futilely, then reality came crashing in. He collapsed, subdued, and his body burned, but there was no blood. Amil Gaoul's spirit shard rolled out on to the grass, before his eyes.

And then he understood.

"_Divide them, Thanatos!"_

_No…_

Jimu walked up to him and picked up Amil Gaoul's spirit shard. "I'll be taking this," he said, smirking.

_Impossible…_

"What's this? No smart-ass comment for me? How disappointing."

Zed was still in shock.

_That spirit…somehow it split me, us, apart…but how?!_

Jimu spat, but Zed barely registered the action even though the saliva hit his face.

"Zed!" Noa rushed up, then doubled over as pain wracked his body. Jimu started, then a malevolent grin spread across his face. As Noa struggled to stand, he was suddenly, viciously punched in the stomach. He crumpled again, winded, unable to react as Jimu hoisted his body over his shoulder.

"Thanatos!"

The spirit heeded his call and descended, allowing Jimu to clamber up on to its shoulder. He smirked one last time at Zed.

"We'll meet again, kid!"

Zed's eyes watched blindly as Jimu fled. _It can't…be…_

Then darkness, like a curtain, descended.

**Somewhere**

_There was a dark mist. A mist woven with…what? Fear? Tangible fear? "Ahhh, yes, fear…"_

_He started and looked around wildly. "What? Who's there?!"_

_The mist thickened and enfolded his arms, caressing his face with queasy, clammy fingers. He shrank back, wide-eyed and unfeeling with panic._

_No. He did feel something. He felt…_cold_._

_And then Zed was beside him, and there was warmth._

"_Zed!"_

_He reached out for him, for his friend, for his only salvation. Zed only smiled and walked away, turning his back to him._

"_What?! Zed! Don't you recognize me?!"_

_There was no answer. The mist enveloped his body, and he was alone again._

_Terrified, he spun around and ran for his life._

"_You can run…but you cannot hide…"_

"_Go away!" he shouted._

_Again the maddening voice. "You can run…but you cannot hide…!"_

_And then he fell—tripped by what?—and darkness, an evil, sickening darkness, devoured him._

_He screamed…_

Noa awoke, sweating and panting hard. _Where…where am ? _The view before him was hazy and dimly lighted, as if in a tunnel. _No…this _is _a tunnel…_

"Morning, sunshine," a callous voice drawled.

"Who's there?"

"Oh? So you don't recognize me?"

There was a spark of light, and then a cruel, crimson mask materialized before him.

Noa feebly groped for a name. "Jimu!"

A sardonic chuckle echoed within the tunnel. "You really don't get it, do you?" Then a hand pulled away the mask, revealing the face behind.

Noa's eyes widened. "You!"

Again came the laughter. "I have something for you." He held up a spirit shard to Noa's eyes—a spirit shard that was achingly familiar.

Noa inhaled sharply. "Sachira…"


	8. Shattered Strength

_Chapter 8 – Shattered Strength_

* * *

**Templar**

Zed awoke to blinding light. He felt strange—lightheaded, dizzy, almost nauseous. _What…where am I?_

Struggling to sit up, he was rewarded with a bolt of pain striking through him. Gasping, he fell back on to the bed sheets. "Zed," a distant voice called to him, "try not to move."

Through half-lidded eyes, he saw a marvelous figure before him. She sat leaning forward on a chair, clothed in pure white; her violet eyes wide open, observing him with bewilderment and concern, and behind these emotions a detached, curious interest. He could feel her marmalade breath brush past his face; see where her sweat made her blouse stick to her skin.

She was beautiful, absolutely unbelievable. The sunlight streaming in from the window sparkled in her eyes and shone on her dark, luxurious hair. He wanted to feel her, really feel her. Zed wondered briefly why she hadn't looked like this earlier, in the morning, but the images were there, fresh and clear, and he hadn't noticed.

Then reality came crashing in and he saw her expression change, startled, a second after his eyes opened—a sharp intake of breath as if about to speak, the quick shake of the head, the swift glance away and back. Her face recomposed itself, with a look that said, "No, I couldn't possibly have seen that." Roia smiled with relief and straightened, shaking back her hair. "You're awake," she said.

"Yeah" Zed answered, sitting up with a grimace. "Sorry about that. My head isn't feeling too well right now, I must've been a bit disoriented." Running a hand through his hair, he asked, "How long have I been out?" Roia tilted her head back, thinking. "About two days," came her response.

Suddenly Zed started. "Noa!" he gasped, memories of the events days before flashing through his mind.

Roia laid her hand over Zed's, her eyes downcast. "Noa's gone," she said quietly. Zed felt his strength ebb out of him. _Gone. Again. Because of me._

"I have to find him," Zed muttered, pushing away the blankets and rolling away from the bed. He took a tentative step toward the door, but his legs failed him, and he collapsed into a heap on the floor. "Zed, what are you doing?! You're in no condition to walk, much less find Noa and rescue him!" Roia snapped. "Bullshit," growled Zed, and tried again to stand.

Red sparks swam before his eyes and Zed fell again, the dynamism of anger gone from his limbs. Distantly, he heard Roia crying out his name. Then his brain shut down and he heard no more.


	9. Return To Tusk

_Chapter 9 – Return To Tusk_

_

* * *

_

**Templar**

Zed awoke suddenly. _It's morning again,_ he thought. He sat up slowly, but this time, there was no pain. _I've healed._

Then Zed's jaw tightened at the memory of his confrontation with Jimu. He stared at his hand, pale and shriveled, the shards upon it lusterless. No longer did he feel the spirit's life pulsing through him. _Amil Gaoul…is gone too._

"Ah, Zed, you're awake!" Roia said cheerfully as she entered the room. "Although you shouldn't be up, you know."

"Shut up. I need to leave."

"You're not going anywhere, you idiot! You're still in pain—"

"Shut up! I'm fine!"

"Ah, Zed?"

Both Zed and Roia and glanced up in surprise at the messenger who had interrupted them. "What?" they asked.

"The committee would like to see you."

* * *

"What is it?" Zed said irritably.

"We heard reports of a clash between you and the intruder—and a strange spirit, the likes of which we have never seen before," Sebastian answered.

"And?" Zed growled.

"He is a threat to Templar—one that must be dealt with," said another committee member. "And we have it on good authority that your friend, formerly a powerful shard caster, was captured."

A girl, sitting beside Sebastian's seat, stood up silently.

"Sagiri!" Zed exclaimed. "Where's Noa?"

She shook her head slowly, tears pooling into her eyes.

"Zed," said Sebastian. "I—as well as the rest of the committee—would like you to seek out and destroy this man. The spirit he controls—" Sebastian stirred uneasily. "It is no ordinary spirit," he said at last. "We have thought it to be only an obscure myth, but apparently…"

"What is that thing, then?" Zed snapped, breaking the silence.

"The seventh key spirit," Sagiri whispered.

Her fearful words echoed in Zed's mind. _The seventh key spirit…_

"He is a danger not only to Templar, but the rest of the world. We need you to—" Sebastian began.

"Enough!" Zed snarled. "What am I, your pawn? And what about Noa? Is he nothing to you?!"

Sebastian sighed at length. "No. He is not simply 'nothing.'" He stood up. "I will go with you—if only to find him."

"I will too!" Sagiri said fiercely.

Zed turned to the rest of the committee. "This intruder…he called himself Jimu. Where did he go?"

It was Roia who answered.

"Tusk."

* * *

"You don't need to come with us," Zed said crossly.

"But I am, and that's final."

"Are you crazy? You're needed at the infirmary—"

"I asked to take leave for a few days."

"And if this takes longer than a few days?"

"Stop bickering, you two. We're here." Sebastian said.

The shifting circle stretched out before them, undulating slowly and emanating a cyan glow. "Whenever you're ready, Zed," said Sebastian.

Zed clenched his hand into a fist.

"Let's go."


	10. Condemned Friendship

_Chapter 10 – Condemned Friendship_

_

* * *

_

**Tusk**

The shimmering waves of cyan faded into nothingness. Zed blinked once, twice, dazed by the brightness, then his eyes grew accustomed to the stark grays and blacks of Tusk.

He stood silent for a moment, the memories surging through his mind, then shook his head to dispel the thoughts and turned to Roia. "Why were you at the council chamber, anyway?"

"I followed you," answered Roia innocently.

"And Jimu's whereabouts?"

"Well, it seemed logical. Jimoto closed their borders to Tusk soon after Tusker was destroyed—it seems they don't want a repeat of Tusker's rebirth, especially not in their own country—and there is no way that they would allow Jimu, royalty or not, into their lands."

"He was wearing Jimotan-forged armor," Zed pointed out.

"A disguise, maybe," said Roia smoothly.

Zed didn't hear this last defiant remark. Quietly, he pressed his back to the sheer wall of rock and peered cautiously around its corner. Sebastian unsheathed his sword, and Sagiri clung nervously to Roia's hand.

Around the bend, a small group of Tusk soldiers were marching steadily toward them, their footsteps thunderous against the silent stone and their weapons drawn.

Zed ducked his head back into the refuge of the shadowy cliff and held up four fingers. Roia and Sebastian nodded in understanding, and their own blades flicked out from the shard-imbedded hilts.

Zed waited until one soldier was perilously close—then unsheathed his sword and slammed the pommel hard into the man's head. He crumpled to the ground, already unconscious. Roia leapt into action, her twin daggers slashing in unison, carving a bloody "X" on another soldier's throat. Sebastian deflected a vicious slash from the third soldier's sword, and then swung his own mighty blade in a curving arc, nearly cleaving the man in two.

The last soldier, however, merely stood and laughed.

"What's so damn funny?" snapped Zed, leveling his sword at the man's throat.

"Why, Zed…threatening your own friend with such a crude weapon?"

"What—…"

The soldier's uniform blurred, then burned away. The shoulder plating softened, sagging downward and forming a dark cloak, draping around a blood-red suit of chain mail. His face flexed and warped, the features tightening at the corners, the nose sharpening, forming a face that Zed knew so well.

An illusion shard dropped from Noa's left hand.

Around them, the corpses rose and underwent a similar metamorphosis. Roia gasped and backed away in horror. "Spirit eaters," she whispered.

Noa sneered, then pulled out his own blade.

"It's been far too long, Zed."


	11. The Soul's Corruption

_Chapter 11 – The Soul's Corruption_

_

* * *

_

**Tusk**

"Why are you doing this!" yelled Zed, as his sword crashed against Noa's.

"Why not?" answered Noa, smirking. He lunged suddenly at Zed, the wicked tip of his blade hungering for blood. Zed parried the brutal stab and skidded back several inches from the force of the blow, dust curling around the toes of his boots.

"What's the matter, Zed? Too craven to fight me for real?" taunted Noa.

Zed's jaw tightened and he did not answer.

Noa laughed and continued his relentless assault, with Zed struggling to defend himself from the roving slashes.

* * *

Roia and Sebastian stood tensely together, blades drawn, as the three Spirit Eaters circled them like sharks around their prey. Roia stared in barely subdued horror at the grievous slash that Sebastian's greatsword had inflicted upon one of them. "How are they still alive?" she murmured.

"They're not entirely human," growled Sebastian.

As if to affirm Sebastian's words, they snickered shrilly, and one lunged at Roia. "Your spirit," it rasped. "Your spirit, your spirit, your spirit, it is _mine!_"

"Go away!" screamed Roia, gouging her daggers into the Eater's eyes—but still it grappled her, unmindful of its sudden blindness.

"Graaah!" Sebastian roared, bringing his sword heavily upon the Eater's head, severing it from its body. Only then did the Eater collapse, with Roia shoving the corpse away from her.

The last two Eaters pounced.

* * *

The sharp clash of their swords rang out, over and over again, as Zed and Noa parried and slashed endlessly. "Noa, stop this madness! It doesn't have to end like this!" Zed pleaded.

"Stop? Now? And why would I do that?" Noa snarled. "Because we are 'friends'? Because we have always been 'friends'? Don't feed me lies, you self-righteous bastard!" He swiped viciously with his sword, sending Zed reeling backwards.

"Do you realize," Noa continued with a breathless laugh, "Do you realize how much _stronger_ I feel now? After so many years—after so many goddamned years—I can finally walk without a shitting brace…I can finally confront you without shame…I am no longer a cripple in your eyes!"

"You've become a monster," Zed gasped out.

At this, Noa laughed. "A monster? Oh, no, no. You're wrong…I've been reborn!" He summoned a spirit shard to his hand, and tossed it into the air. "Come forth…Sachira!"

Zed stared at Sachira in shock and sudden comprehension. "You sacrificed your own soul…just for power? You, and all these other Spirit Eaters?"

Again Noa laughed. "Kill him!" he shouted gleefully, pointing at Zed.

* * *

Sebastian heaved the body of the last Spirit Eater on to the ground and turned to sheath his sword when he heard Noa's frenzied command: _"Kill him!"_

_

* * *

_

Zed stared at Noa in disbelief as Sachira lunged at him, its spear-like arm lancing toward his heart. His sword clattered on to the ground, and Zed dropped on to his knees, stricken into silence, awaiting the inevitable.

"No!" bellowed Sebastian, charging in front of Zed. Sachira's arm knifed into Sebastian's body, plunging through it with tremendous force—only to halt inches away from Zed's face, splattering his face with hot blood. Sebastian's eyes widened, then narrowed, and he spat at Noa in contempt.

"To try…and murder…your own friend…to succumb…to Sachira's corrupted…strength…you are not the Noa that I have taken under my wing!"

He raised his sword, and with a great cry, lashed out at Sachira's arm, gouging the blade into it. Sachira reared back in pain and swatted Sebastian away as if he were no more than a leaf.

"Sebastian!" Zed yelled, galvanized into motion. "Sebastian, I—"

Sebastian quelled Zed's words with a feeble gesture. "You…Noa…you must—"

There was a low rumble, and Zed was swept aside as a glowing ring of energy slammed into the cliff above Sebastian, burying him under a ton of solid rubble.

"Such a touching reunion," sneered Noa. "A pity it had to be cut short."

Zed rolled to his feet, sword in hand, his eyes snapping to Noa's face.

"But there is no need to worry," continued Noa, as if nothing had happened. "You'll be joining him soon, after all."

"So…it's come this, huh?" Zed answered quietly, his face and resolve hardening. "We'll see about that, then." He summoned a spirit shard into his hand.

Noa grinned and began to sprint toward Zed, his sword raised, thirsting for blood.


End file.
